TOPAZ HORIZON

OMG. You've got to watch this video of Michael Jackson and Britney Spears singing "The Way You Make Me Feel"!!! Two superstars on stage, singing live, feeding off each other's energy--it's electrifying.

Really makes you long for the good ol' days when real singing sensations entertained us. Not the crap we get these days. Well, at least Britney's back in the studio recording an album again. I really liked Blackout, and the critics hailed it, too, as one of her best. Sad that she wasn't able to promote it because her life was in such turmoil last year. But she's much better now, healthier, hitting the gym trying to get back her old shape. And she'll also be part of Madonna's big tour next month. And her video for "Piece of Me" just got nominated for the MTV VMAs. People really still believe in Britney!

Now if only Michael will also come back...

Anyway, here's another video that I love. At least Madonna, Christina Aguilera and Missy Eliot's still in the scene. That's quite a comforting thought really!

Aside from the occasional wedding and funeral and christening, of course. If you know me or if you've read this blog for a while, you'd know I have this huge faith in God. I'm a Born-Again Christian, grew up in a Baptist church, and I completely believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is my Savior and that my life is meaningless without Him.

So why did I stop attending church? Oh, there are tons of reasons. Here's a good list I found from The Accidental Missionary:
10. I was only going to church to please others.
9 I want to spend more time with my friends.
8. I disagreed with the church’s stance on political or social issues.
7. I didn’t feel connected with the people in my church.
6. I became too busy.
5. I moved too far away.
4. My work responsibilities prevented me from attending.
3. I started college and stopped church.
2. Church members seemed too judgmental or hypocritical.
1. I simply wanted a break from church.

And then the blog's author surmises, "Why do they want a break? I think maybe #2 causes #1."

And that's why I ultimately left. Left the family I loved, the friends I grew up with, the church that formed my beliefs and my morals. Well, I didn't become un-Christian, mind you, I just left the church physically because it just got too confusing for me. It's like what Gandhi supposedly said, "I would become a Christian if it were not for Christians." I felt back then that I was surrounded by judgmental hypocrites and I wanted to scream my head off because I was so lost in a place where I should feel found.

So I wandered off. Shopped around for different churches and checked out a few "life-changing" seminars. Studied a bit of Buddhism and even found that very attractive. Except that I just couldn't shake off my one true love: Jesus Christ. I fell in love with Christ before and I asked Him into my heart and there is no way I'm asking Him to ever leave. Never!

Anyway, now that I've had time away and apart to live how I want, explore the world I was protected from, meet many kinds of people I never would've known had I stayed in my cloistered existence... well, I can't say I regret these past 6 years. Nope, not at all. I loved every minute of it! I've had tons of fun. I've grown a deeper understanding of myself, my fellow men, and of God.

And I guess I understand now that what I thought was judgmental and hypocritical behavior before was perhaps also growing pains, the same thing I had to go through. I guess if there's anything I love about getting older, it's getting more compassionate and understanding. Wisdom only comes with age. So yes, I will welcome the years.

Ah, but it's been 6 years, my friends. And I'm starving.

*song is I'm Going Home by Chris Daughtry; video features clips from Spirit, created by horselover1166

In Facebook, an old classmate from Assumption Antipolo posted this photo last week:


That's me on the top row, third student from left (click photo to enlarge). I am 6 or 7 years old here and I have no front teeth!

Since Facebook allows you to tag people in photos, all of us who were tagged here left comments on the pic and that's also how we found each other again. I got such a huge kick getting updates from long lost friends--most of them are married, with kids or are pregnant, and juggling a career, too. We've been emailing each other (and that's a lot of mail that I've been cheerfully busy with!) and I just get soooo happy reading about them and setting up appointments to meet soon. Their lives sound so fascinating and it boggles me that they find my life exciting, too.

Okay, I love my life. I keep telling Vince that the life I have now is beyond my wildest imagination (and Vince would always chuckle back, "You didn't imagine much then!"). After growing up poor, to be able to buy my shoes and bags and dresses, eat at nice places, buy my medicines (I'm a health nut), live in a lovely home, travel, help my parents financially, and do all these and more without going into debt... this life is totally insane for me.

You see, I've been very selfish these past years, focusing entirely on myself. It's a survival thing, I think. I wasn't very happy in my youth so I've worked very very hard the last decade or so to get to this point where I am happy. But in the last year, I've begun looking outward.

Maybe because I'm so happy and settled down? Maybe because I'm older and finally wiser? Maybe because I finally listened to God's prodding and stopped focusing on me? I don't know. All I know is there is a hunger in me to be generous, to give, to love, to reconnect, to ask forgiveness and to forgive. After all, I wouldn't be where I am today if other people hadn't been so generous with me. Vince's parents gave us our home, my bosses at work have rewarded my service, my staff gives so much time to the magazine so I wouldn't need to, my friends and sisters-in-law and family made my wedding utterly exquisite, my husband continues to spoil me rotten by providing me my needs and my wants. I am so blessed because people around me, despite my selfishness, have poured out their lives and emptied their pockets just so I can be happy. God is too good to me and that humbles me a lot, you know?

Life really isn't about oneself; it's about sharing your life with others. I have finally found meaning in generosity.

And she writes, too!

Gosh. It sucks to have someone else on cyberspace who's just like you.

I haven't read her stories yet but she seems to be prolific. Now I'm envious. I haven't written any stories since 2001. And I call myself a writer, ha! Well, I do write articles and I do edit a magazine but there's an awfully annoying part of me that tells me I'm no good because I haven't written a story for so long.

Anyway, back to the other Topaz Horizon. I'll disappear for a bit so I can read her stuff. Syempre, I assume she's a she. I wonder if she's also a November girl. That's why I named my blog that because I love my gemstone, topaz--the smoky or yellow ones, not those common blue ones. I'm always in search for rings, pendants, earrings that are yellow topazes. They are quite rare!

Hmmm, I wonder if she knows about my blog... Gee, I really feel like we're connected somehow. I mean, we came up with the same name! We must think alike, eh? I'm sooo curious but I'm scared to contact her. What do you think?

Ria and Zemirah, who are both from Quezon City!

They correctly guessed that the bestselling book that featured Platform 9 and 3/4 in this photo was HARRY POTTER!

Every time I have a contest, I have a different criteria for choosing winners (so that I don't get bored and to encourage my readers to join each time). For this contest, my reasons for choosing the winners are simply because I liked their blogs!

Check out Ria's blog here. And Zemirah's blog here.

Both these lovely girls (and readers of my nutty blog) will receive a beautiful Sun Lustre bronzer from Body Shop's latest makeup collection, the Sun-Kissed Makeup Line. Each bronzer is saucer-sized and comes in an exquisite golden case. It's worth $25 each so, to the two of you, super congrats!

Ria and Zemirah, I will email you with the details on the prize. By the way, Ria, you get the Radiant Blush, and Zemirah, you get Bronze Gleam. Congratulations and thank you for reading my blog!

To the other readers who joined my contest, thank you also. I also loved your side comments and I'm so happy I got all correct answers this time!

*product photo from Body Shop website.

So, finally! Here’s my kwento on our London honeymoon a couple of weeks ago.

We were booked on a Cathay Pacific flight, and darlings, if you must fly, fly Cathay Pacific. Their service is good, the food is great, and you have your own personal TV! The shows and movies are well selected, too. Plus, you can check in online. Tapos, kung sabihin mo sa check-in crew na you’re on honeymoon, they’ll upgrade you to business class! Wowowee, ang bait super!

Basta, the best ang Cathay. Maganda pa yung cabin crew nila, hindi tulad ng Lufthansa—panget na, matanda at masungit pa! Funny lang kasi they kept talking to Vince in Chinese. Heehee, mukha kasing Intsik ang asawa ko.

Anyway, here I am at Hong Kong’s international airport. Ni hao! This is my first time in HK! Grabe, ang ganda ng airport nila. At ang laki! There was one time we even had to take a train inside the airport to get from one gate to another. Nakakaawa talaga ang airport natin dito sa Manila… Anyway, I liked Hong Kong so much (yes, even though I was only there for a few minutes) and since Vince loves Hong Kong, too (aside from living there for a couple of years, he and his family used to visit HK every year), we’re really excited to go back maybe in November or December!

Anyway, the real reason why you want to book a good airline is because 15 hours strapped to a chair is torture. You want to make the experience less inhuman really. By the time we landed in Heathrow (which kinda looked like NAIA but bigger), we were ready to stretch our legs forever. London was more than happy to oblige.

This city is made for walking. The famous Underground is not for the claustrophobic, the weak, the unfit, and the slow paced. I am not claustrophobic but I am definitely not fit. Too many times in the next few days, I gasped in dismay sa sobrang layo ng tunnels, sa sobrang steep ng escalators (yep, sometimes you have to run up those things), and sa sobrang bilis ng mga tao. Grabe, kung mabagal kang maglakad, itutulak ka talaga nila! So when in Rome… or in this case, London, talagang I had no choice but to sprint! Vince nga said he’s very proud of me. I’m a very slow walker kasi; I like taking in the sights, plus I’m asthmatic. But in London, asthma be damned! Mas gugustuhin mong hikain ka rather than be pushed aside by these irate and impatient Londoners.

But I loved the Underground. I adapted pretty fast, I’m proud to say. And the Underground, being underground, is warm. In cold cold London, I quickly fell in love with anything warm.

*continue reading… Contest ahead!

London is a very old city and it’s bursting with culture. It’s really fascinating to watch actually. You see centuries-old buildings with ultra-modern ones, elegantly dressed people with trendy/trashy ones. You see many many kinds of people from all over the world—lots of Europeans, Indians and Pakistanis, lots of beautiful black people (hindi yung mga nakakatakot na hiphop ones but these amazingly graceful and deeply black creatures!), but not very many Asians—sad.

Yes they do, but I was only expecting to encounter just one specimen not dozens upon dozens!

In the British Museum, I got a real kick out of this particular carving. It’s called Lovers, and it’s the oldest known sculpture of a couple making love. Very apt for my honeymoon, right? Anyway, what’s really clever with this statue is whichever way you look at it, it’s very sexual (observe below). From the side, mukha siyang penis!

Later on that day, I saw more penises. Real ones, in all shapes and sizes and colors! I saw lots of breasts, too. In Oxford Street, after a tiring afternoon shopping away, we climbed on top of a double decker bus and eto ang tumambad sa amin ni Vince!

For more than 5 minutes, nude upon nude biked and skated and rollerbladed their way past us. These are people who willingly went naked on a really cold day to raise awareness on the environment. They were asking people to stop being dependent on oil and curb car culture. Well, they got our attention!

I’m glad to report that Vince and I no longer use our car every day. We now live even closer to our work (we used to live just 10 minutes away but now the office has moved across the street!) and I’ve always been a big user of the MRT/LRT and buses. We walk to the grocery, and everywhere we need to go is very near. Because of this practice, we only used to gas up every 6 or 7 weeks. Now that we live across work, we don’t know when we’ll gas up next. Every little thing helps our planet!

*continue reading… Contest ahead!

So this is the famous Hyde Park where opinionated people get up on a box and spout their thoughts on everyone willing to listen, among other things. It's a huge park. Immense. Gigantic. Humongous. Vince and I went crazy going around it. We were going, "Where does this frikkin' park end???"

And that's just one park of many in this city. I guess that's why London, despite it being so cosmopolitan and busy, the city smells so fresh. The trees and the parks are just everywhere. And Londoners love it. At the first sign of sun, they strip to their skivvies and lie down on the grass, basking in the rare rays. 

And so is my forehead! Harhar!

We really liked walking around this area. About 10-15 minutes away, we got to the South Bank where our real destination, The London Eye, lords it over the River Thames. That's a cool area, by the way. There's an aquarium museum for the kids (sharks!!!), a movie museum (looked unimpressive haha), and Dali Universe. That guy is out of this world. Here are some of what his artwork looked like.

Crazeeee! But great, right?

*Continue reading... Contest ahead!

Vince and I fell in love while riding a ferris wheel. Yep. We were at the UP National Writers Workshop in Baguio nine years ago. We were exhausted from all the criticism the panelists threw at us so some fellow writers got it into their heads to visit a perya to just let loose. It was a cheap perya with cheap rides. Vince and I didn't really know each other and I don't think we really liked each other at that point. However, we found ourselves sharing the little squeaky dangerous-looking pod and for a few minutes we were scared for our lives. Maybe that vulnerable moment did it, or the stars in the clear mountain sky, or the chill of the Baguio breeze, or the most incredible conversation in our life--whatever it was, by the time we got down shakily from that contraption, we were inseparable.

So obviously when we visited the city with the largest, highest, biggest ferris wheel in the world, why, what else should we do??? Catch a flight on The London Eye naturally!


Needless to say, we found it very romantic.

*Continue reading... Contest ahead!

I love two dead royals: Anne Boleyn, queen consort of the infamous Henry VIII, and Diana, Princess of Wales.

They lived such tragic lives but at the same time, these two women brought so much change to their country. Anne was the mother of the English Reformation and Diana modernized royalty.

So when we passed by the Tower of London, I can’t help but sigh. In this fortress, Anne was imprisoned as her husband romanced his new queen-in-waiting, Jane Seymour. Anne was quickly beheaded yet her last words still spoke of her love and respect for the king.

Then when we passed by St. Paul's Cathedral where Diana and Charles were wed, I let out another big sigh. I could still see her walking down those steps in that ridiculously pouffy wedding dress, young and glowing and looking shyly but happily at her prince. I think she still can't believe that she was now the star of every little girl's bedtime story. Well, we all know how that fairy tale ended.

Such sad wives. And on your honeymoon, that kinda jars you, ya know?

*continue reading… Contest ahead!

Our hotel was Premier Travel Inn at Kings Cross. It’s very near the busy tube station but it was quiet. I loved our hotel (sorry, no pics!) since it was near everything—the tube station, the bus station, pubs, a McDonald’s (though we didn’t eat there but it looked bright and friendly anyway), and a Tesco right at the back!

That little supermarket has really yummy food. I found these incredible chocolate muffins there. Super sarap! Grabe! I even brought home 2 bags of those muffins. Yes, here in Manila! Tinipid ko talagang kainin yung mga muffins na yun pero all good things must come to an end and after a week, I very sadly finished off the last chocolate muffin and Vince thought I was so kawawa kasi pati yung maliliit na crumbs na nahulog sa lamesa, pinulot ko. Yes, I am that pathetic. If there’s anyone out there kind enough to send me these incredibly delicious chocolate muffins, please!

The pastries and desserts in London were great but everything else… okay, like I said before, the food ain’t bad. In fact, I loved everything the first two days haha. English breakfasts are fantastic actually. The croissants and jams and jellies are superb! And the fruit juices? The freshest I've ever had.

Here’s Vince enjoying the famous English dish fish and chips. Fish fillet and potato wedges for a whopping GBP 7. I had lasagna, served also with the ubiquitous chips. And salad. They like their greens. My dish was also a whopping GBP 7. So yung total mga PHP 1,300. Masarap ba? Sabihin na lang natin na matabang yung isda at mas masarap pa ang lasagna ng Greenwich.

While Vince enjoyed the fish and chips, he did not enjoy the strange sandwich at the British Museum (ganda ng ceiling, no!). Look at his face. That sandwich cost us GBP 3.50, so it's around PHP 314!!! Mga friends, I'm not boasting here when I quote the prices of what we ate, ha. I'm just saying that the food is soooo expensive and so we were constantly feeling just a bit hungry because we just can't bring ourselves to shell out lots of cash para sa pagkain na hindi naman masarap! Kahit nga yung mga mahal na food (we tried those eventually, we figured malamang mas masarap yun), hindi talaga natuwa ang taste buds namin. Sigh!

Yung coffee naman sa Camden (I’m drinking something hot kasi maginaw, kahit na maaraw sa picture na eto), yung isang tasa GBP 1. So okay lang kasi mga ninety pesos lang so parang parehas din dito. Well, sabihin na lang natin ulit na mas masarap pa ang instant Nescafe coffee so sobrang hindi siya sulit!

My friend Ianne said that she found the food great but maybe that’s because she ate mostly at Asian restos. Ianne, I dunno where you ate but the curry we had and the lumpiang Shanghai and the sweet and sour pork, pati yung Chinese fried rice that we hunted and eventually found, grabe. Matabang. I mean, c’mon, how can you go wrong with fried rice?! In fact, na-depress ako after a while. Umiyak nga ako nung last day namin dun. Hinahanap-hanap ko talaga ang lutong Pinoy.

Sa totoo lang, the food is good. Not out-of-your-mind-fantabulous but okay. London, after all, is not a destination known for its food (unlike Hong Kong or Thailand, for example). Ang masakit lang kasi sobrang mahal. Yung egg-and-tomato sandwich halos Php200, for example, wala pang mayo o mustard man lang. So you'll think, "Damn, for that kind of money, I could've eaten at a fine dining resto back home!" Grabe, yung isang bote ng tubig dun (see photo), mas mahal pa sa gasolina natin dito! Kaya pati tubig, tinitipid namin inumin. Hahahaha!

So Vince and I, when we got home, we ate at North Park, C2, all these yummy places here. And we kept going, "My golly gulay, we ate enough for four people and that was only, like, GBP 10!"

*continue reading… Contest ahead!

You know what’s the very best thing about London aside from the National Gallery? It’s West End.

The theater culture in London is astonishing. There must have been more than a dozen theaters in the city, each featuring a play or a musical, with performances every day, twice a day. Here in Manila, which I believe is a bigger city, how many plays do we stage in a day? Please, let’s support our theater culture!!!

So there we were on our last night in the city and Vince and I decided to spend our money on a musical. I wanted to watch Lion King, always have, always will. But the husband is not a fan of the Disney movie so he was positively sure he won’t like the musical. We both liked Les Miserables but the ticket lady said, “Look, it’s your last night in London. You’ve had fun so don’t watch something that is sad and heavy, okay? Here, watch We Will Rock You. Everybody says it is the best. I got good seats and for you, I’ll give them for only GBP 35 instead of GBP 55.” So, since Vince and I love a good bargain and since Vince has been bugging me about watching We Will Rock You, we watched that.

The ticket lady wasn’t kidding. We did indeed get very good seats (near the stage, center!) and the theater was filled to the rafters with an excited buzz. In all my theater experiences here in Manila, I have never felt the electricity of anticipation that filled a theater like that. The audience was so eager to watch the play, it was disconcerting, and their excitement really rubbed off on Vince and me. This musical must be good!

And it was!

We Will Rock You is a rock musical written by Queen and Ben Elton. Honestly, the story line was a bit thin; it felt like they just needed something to string along Queen’s songs. But since the music was really really fantastic and the actors were really really good singers, it was so worth the GBP 70! The audience sang along, we danced, we clapped, we screamed and shouted, we gave them a standing ovation.

Next time we go to London, I’m just watching the theater. It was truly magnificent!

*continue reading… Contest ahead!

... and two readers will win a Body Shop Sun Lustre Bronzer from Body Shop's newest makeup collection, the Sun-Kissed Makeup Line.

I'm a big fan of this book series, which is, by the way, very very British. Being in London made me understand and appreciate the book way better--the night bus, wizarding money, kids sent off to boarding school, etc. Anyway, about this time last year, I was looking forward to and dreading the arrival of the very last book in this series. When I finally got to the last page, I felt bereft. No more adventures from this wizard I've grown to love for the past seven or so years.

So when I was booking our hotel a couple of months ago, I was so giddy when I found out that our hotel sat right beside Kings Cross station. And if you’re a fan of this book, you know that a special kind of train sits waiting there for its special kind of students!

Kings Cross is a huge train station but I dragged Vince there anyway, looking for Platform 9 and ¾. I just had to have a picture! Then I can pretend that I’m on my way to Hogwarts! Vince thought I was being silly. After two attempts and getting lost in the process, we finally found it. I really squealed like a kid when I found Platform 9 and ¾. I ran up to the wall, took hold of the luggage trolley and very excitedly (and stupidly) pushed and pushed that trolley into the wall. I mean, it was already halfway in! Alas, there must be no magic in me whatsoever because the wall refused to let my Muggle self through.

Nevertheless, Muggle or not, our London honeymoon was pure magic. We had so much fun (yep, despite the cold, the bland food and getting left behind by our plane because the train got into trouble and we were stuck underground for 2 hours and 50 minutes). Though Vince and I had known each other for 9 years, this week-long honeymoon made us discover more about ourselves and that it’s possible to fall even more in love with each other. London was wonderful because we are in love and nothing can be more magical than that!

So let me share that fun by holding my second blog contest! Just answer this unbelievably easy question:

What famous book series about a boy wizard and his adventures prominently featured Platform 9 and ¾ of Kings Cross station?

Two readers who will leave a comment on this post with the correct answer will win a Body Shop Sun Lustre Bronzer, which will add an enchanting glow to your skin that’s sure to bewitch all the men out there! I have two kinds: the Bronze Gleam (for morena) and the Radiant Blush (for maputi), each worth $25 or Php1,135. So tell me which one you want!

*How to win:
1. Winner will be randomly picked by me. Please don't contest the results. I have different qualifications depending on my mood!

2. Winner must have a Philippine address since shipping outside the country is expensive.
3. Please comment in this format: your answer, the bronzer variant you want (just one!), your first name, city where you're from, and email address.
4. Please do not put your full name and delivery address in the comment box since this blog is not secure. If you put your personal info, I will not be responsible for any identity theft and other problems that may arise from your actions.
5. I will announce the winner in a blog entry on July 15. I will also publish all entries then. So join lang nang join, mga friends! Baka manalo ka na!

*product photo from Body Shop website.